Thumb Rings and Ballet Slippers
Victoria's day was good.
She had a late start at work which meant she took as much time as she wanted in an indulgent shower. She made eggs for her and her room mate who was rushing around trying to comb her hair with her fingers and phone in late for work and then when she had an hour to kill before walking to the café, she curled up on the sofa and watched breakfast television, smiling as Tugger's face flashed on the screen as he spoke animatedly about who was sleeping with who.
Then when she got to work, she was greeted by a nearly empty café and Rumpleteazer who gave her a cheeky wink before serving an old lady who seemed incredibly put off by the café regulars, especially the man in the corner with tattoos leaking onto his face. The hours went by slowly but calmly, there was no clamouring for utensils or dodging each other as they tried to make orders, Victoria could actually talk to her colleague and not feel like she was slacking.
"I love Tuesdays," the ginger girl sighed, taking a leisurely bite from an energy bar she'd put on her tab, "They're the best days. Barely any people, no teenagers because they're all at school, no Monday rush to get a cup of coffee. Just great."
Victoria giggled at her, leaning on the counter and doodling flowers and pointe shoes on her little order note pad, she was about to agree with her companion but a deep, throaty chuckle cut her off and made her stand up straight, partly due to surprise and partly to seem as though she wasn't slacking.
"I feel like I shouldn't order, you both look so relaxed."
Victoria would have usually found that comment stupidly patronising and would have willed her to be a bitch when serving but it was said with such a timid playfulness so she felt the need to smile slightly at this new customer and jump straight to serving him. It also went in his favour that he was very attractive.
This customer stood around about six foot five, he had broad shoulders and muscular arms. His jaw was strong and his cheekbones high but he had this boyish quality to his face, perhaps it was his wry grin and uncertain pucker of his brow. His eyes were dark, almost black, framed by eyelashes that were too long for them and his lips were thin. He had rusty brown hair that he kept playing with, it looked fluffy, like that wonderful texture that boys get when the grow their hair out a little more than they usually would.
"Sorry about that," she said, her voice wavering with light giggles as she tore the doodles from her notepad, "How may I help you?"
The customer shrugged and scratched the back of his head, "I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to extravagant coffee, I usually just stick to one pound fifty instant crap. What would you suggest?"
That made Victoria even more fond of him, she couldn't stand it when she got café connoisseurs who lectured her on the art of coffee construction, she flashed him her dimpled smile and leaned forward ever so slightly on the counter.
"Don't tell anyone but I hate coffee, I'm more of a tea fan but if you're a beginner I'd say it's best to start off with a basic cappuccino as we have our best cappuccino maker on hand today," she said nodding to the ginger in the background who was brushing crumbs from her hands onto her apron.
The customer laughed again, he had a really pretty laugh, "Your secret is safe with me, whatever you suggest. Though, I don't know if I should trust you now that I know you're a coffee fraud."
She pencilled down his order, shaking her head a little as she giggled, "Okay sir, if you'd like to take a seat and this coffee fraud will bring your drink over in a second."
He grinned and took the seat furthest from the counter, smiling cheekily as if he knew that she'd have to make a long trip over, and Rumpleteazer gave the blonde a little nudge with her hip.
"Shameless flirting on the job. I thought better of you, young lady," Victoria rolled her eyes a little but her cheeks flushed.
"I'm simply easing his transition to the pretentious coffee life, okay?" Rumpleteazer winked at her and started to make the handsome customer his drink while Victoria found a blank page in her notepad and proceeded to doodle as she felt the man's eyes on her and pretended as though she was blissfully unaware. When Rumpleteazer had finished, she handed Victoria the drink and patted her on the backside before whispering,
"Off you go, you minx."
Victoria gave her a playful glare before walking over to the customer, he was reading at this point and only looked up at her when she placed the mug on the table.
"Enjoy," she said with a smile and turned to leave, she felt his hand on her wrist and she turned back sharply, confusion etched into every feature of her lovely face.
"You can't leave now" he said with a grin, releasing her hand, "I'm trying my first cappuccino, this is a momentous occasion and I need someone to bear witness."
She raised a perfectly manicured brow at him but stayed put anyway, a smile tickling at the edges of her lips. He kept his eyes on her face as he took a sip, his eyebrows raised a little and he made an appreciative grunt as he placed the mug down again, revealing a cappuccino foam moustache on his upper lip.
"It's good," he concluded. Victoria laughed at his frothy lip and her giggles only grew louder as he stared bewildered at her. She finally motioned to her own lip and he got the picture, laughing slightly but a light pink coloured his face. The blonde wiped a tear from her eye and clapped her hands,
"Well this was fun. Enjoy the rest of your drink, Mister," she teased and walked away from him this time, he laughed after her and made some joke that she couldn't hear.
He took about ten minutes to drink the rest of his drink before lining up again behind some small girl with glasses too large for her face and synthetic orange curls. When he got to the front, Victoria blinked at him in surprise before turning to a fresh page in her pad,
"Another? They're not that good," she joked.
"I was actually wondering what your name was," he said, his voice was smooth but she could see his leg shaking a little, preparing her for what was happening. She pointed to her name badge and he rolled his eyes at himself,
"Ah, could have seen that sooner. I'm Plato."
She laughed again, she seemed to be laughing a lot with him. Victoria was a hopeless romantic, she read stories about couples meeting in book shops and watched films where a Hollywood starlet would kiss a typically handsome male lead in the rain. She was well versed in the art of dating, she was the most experienced and one of the prettiest in her all girls school and while her relationships never reached over a few months, she'd learned all she needed to from them. So, she knew by the way he was desperately trying to maintain eye contact and by the way he was trembling slightly what was on his mind and she was more than happy to comply with it. London was full of men and some of them had taken a fancy to her but he was so cute, with his boyish smiles and his shaky leg.
"I was wondering, Victoria, if you'd like to get together sometime when you've hung up your apron and ended your façade as a coffee enthusiast."
"Well while it'd be incredibly unprofessional of me to accept that right now as I'm working, in twenty minutes I'll be on my break and then I might agree to lunch on Thursday around about two o'clock," she said softly, ignoring the persistent laughter from Rumpleteazer who'd been eavesdropping.
"And if I were to suggest meeting outside here before making our way to town?" he tried, his back straightening slightly with new found confidence.
"I'd maybe say that I'd be there."
The rest of her shift, she put up with Rumpleteazer's merciless teasing but felt herself get more and more excited. It'd been so long since she'd been out with a male that wasn't her brother or one of her brother's friends and she found herself planning her 'I barely made an effort but I can still look attractive' outfit in her head as she hung up her apron at closing time and walked out of the door with confident strides. Halfway through her little walk home, she felt her phone vibrate in her coat pocket and she examined the unknown number before answering uncertainly, her clipped accent ever present as she spoke.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Hello Victoria, it's Cassandra. We spoke the other night?"
Victoria literally stopped in her tracks, her smile stretched and almost hit her eyes, "Oh! Hello Cassandra, I remember."
Of course she remembered, the beautiful woman with the job offer, she felt herself vibrate with excitement. No way was this happening, she couldn't have been hit on by an attractive man and then phoned up by this job-offering angel.
"I spoke to some creative producers and execs and generally boring people today and they told me about this group audition they'll be doing in a few weeks. If you could email me some head shots and your show reel then I could get to work at scoring you a place. How does that sound?"
Victoria repressed a girlish squeal, "Sounds great," she said, her voice squeaking slightly despite her efforts at keeping it level.
The woman on the other side laughed lightly, "I did give you my email, right?"
"Yes," Victoria replied perhaps a little too quickly.
"Good, well take care and I'll give you a call if anything happens."
"Sounds good," Victoria said, her voice finally calming itself, "Take care, thanks again Cassandra."
The woman said her goodbye and the phone clicked off. The blonde had to take a few moments to compose herself before letting out the squeal that had been trying to make it's way from her lips since she realised who she was talking to. She practically skipped on her way home, her enthusiasm fuelled by how great her day had been and by the thought of her room mate waiting for her at home with a cup of tea and some honey on toast.
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Jemima's day had been terrible. Terrible being an extreme understatement that she would later use to describe her day so other people wouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable by the sheer awfulness of how it actually had been.
She'd woke late meaning she didn't have time to shower, to do her usual workout or to even brush her hair properly. She put on her work uniform as she brushed her teeth, ate the eggs Victoria made her while she laced up her shoes and made up her face on the ten minute bus ride into the city. She'd rang in late for work earlier, spinning a tale about how she'd been held up at the Doctor's (she hadn't clarified why she was at the Doctor's since there really wasn't any reason for her to be there) but judging from her manager's voice she wasn't going to be getting off lightly. When she arrived, the place was mainly empty too as it was early enough so people had no need for lunch and late enough that people had already gotten breakfast. She clocked in, only ten minutes later than she was supposed to, and got to work immediately.
Twenty minutes into her shift, she was called into the staff room by her manager. She thought up a long-winded apology as she made her way in her ugly work shoes that squeaked lightly when she walked. He was waiting for her with an almost pained expression on his face, his arms crossed and his hat slightly lopsided. Jemima shot him her best smile, the type that reached her eyes and filled most of her face but this only served to make him seem more uncomfortable.
"Please say you've brought your leaflet," he said gently, her dumbstruck expression was enough to make him sigh and remove his hat as realisation hit her like an unwelcome wave and anxiety started to tug on her hair like a petulant child. Having only worked there for a little over a month, she was still in her probationary period so she was required to attend regular progress meetings and go over things she'd learned on the job using this leaflet that she filled in weekly, the leaflet that she'd left on her bedside table after filling it out the night before after she recalled that she'd be having her progress meeting the following day.
"I'm so sorry," she said, trying to stop her face from crumpling or her voice from wavering. If it had been any other job, she'd have apologised, proposed a solution and gotten on with it but this place was so competitive. They took on around about fifteen newcomers at a time and under half of those continued on to work after the probationary period and it was seeming very unlikely that Jemima would be one of the few who did.
The manager sighed, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward slightly, "So am I, kid. You're a good worker and if it were up to me, I'd give you a warning and send you back to work."
He paused and she felt tears spring to her eyes. She didn't like the job, hell, she really disliked working with fryers and picky customers but she needed any form of payment to help her keep her side of the rent up, the money she'd saved up since she was sixteen wasn't going to last forever.
"But it's not up to me, it's up to the big guy who's too chickenshi- who felt it more appropriate that this was handled by your line manager," he continued, smiling a little as she gave him a weak giggle, "So, unfortunately, the company sees grounds to terminate your position here due to lack of punctuality and inability to prepare accordingly for company requirements. You are entitled to full pay for shifts you have taken that have not yet been paid but you are not entitled to finish the shift you are currently on. Do you understand?"
Jemima gave a short nod, a tear trickled down her cheek and she batted it away quickly before forcing a smile, "Thanks for having me," she whispered, figuring that she may as well get a good reference from her line manager if she needed it.
"You've been a pleasure," he said sincerely, his hand going out and lightly touching hers, an action that was meant to be comforting but Jemima didn't want him touching her especially after having fired her, "And you'll get something soon, kid, you see."
She nodded again before standing up and leaving, she didn't bother saying goodbye to her colleagues since she didn't want to make a big fuss of her going. Instead, she changed into the spare clothes she'd packed in her bag the night before in the employee changing room, handed her uniform back to her line manager that was still in the staff room with his head in his hands and clocked out for the last time.
Outside it was cold, kind of brisk, as she walked aimlessly around the town centre, glancing every now and then to see if there were any 'help wanted' signs dotted around or in shop windows. She'd have to find another job soon, she knew she could always ask her sisters for help or her auntie and uncle but when she moved to London she made up her mind that she'd try not to depend on anyone else financially, she wanted to be a real grown up which meant picking up the pieces when things went wrong for her. She knew she didn't have time to mope but at the same time she felt herself feel more and more disheartened as she wandered around and finally she resolved on getting a tea before heading home.
Her day picked up slightly when her server making her tea winked at her and encircled her name on the mug he'd put her drink in with little stars and a kiss. She walked out of the shop with a little smile, hell, she was going to be broke and jobless but at least men making her tea flirted with her a little. As soon as she started to feel optimistic, planning on how she'd get home and get straight onto job websites, she felt someone barge into her which resulted in her spilling scalding tea down some of her arm and her front, the assailant winced from the tea too as she must have caught them with it.
"Sorry," she started to say, although she knew it was the fault of the clumsy person who was currently picking at their shirt and cursing under his breath.
"For fuck sake," he mumbled, "Do you always carry boiling hot weapons with you? Or was it just today to ruin my shirt?"
She blinked up at him incredulously, he was a whole head taller than her and while she didn't focus much on his face she thought about how satisfying it would be to serve a punch to it.
"Excuse me?" she asked, "But you... You barged into me, Mister!"
She sounded like a child, how she would have killed for a sultry voice like her sisters or a clipped accent like Victoria's at that moment, instead she just sounded like a toddler whining when their toy is taken from them. The guy picked up on this too and he raised his eyebrow at her, a wry smile playing at his lips.
"Mister?" he teased slightly, "Did you really just call me Mister? Sorry, Mum."
She blinked, her mouth agape and went to say something when another man ran over, clipping the now damp assailant on the shoulder and chuckling. They looked similar, the one that was draped in Jemima's tea was smaller and with darker hair but otherwise they were incredibly alike.
"Pouncival, what have you done now?" the new guy looked down at Jemima, "Is he bothering you?"
"I'm the one covered in her fucking tea," the annoying one, Pouncival, said with a grin. Jemima was not in the mood, she simply shot them both an uncertain smile before making her way past and to the bus station.
"You're lucky you're pretty, klutz!" the annoying one yelled after her, making her pick up pace as she tried to walk in a way that didn't make her shirt stick to her uncomfortably.
When she got home, earlier than her room mate as usual, she got into the shower and into an oversized shirt before lazily perching in her arm chair with Breakfast at Tiffany's, the DVD she'd watched to death, playing in the background and her hair hanging loose and damply down her back.
Victoria got home just as Holly Golightly chucked the cat out of the cab, she dumped her bag at the door and hung her coat up, her voice flooded the room like music as she joked about why the kettle wasn't on.
"I have a date," she cried too as she fiddled with her scarf at the door, "With an extremely handsome customer, I'll see if he has a suitable brother, eh?"
Jemima gave an obligatory giggle but as Victoria came further into the room and caught sight of her pensive figure crouched in her arm chair with her thumbnail placed lightly in her mouth she made her way to the kitchen and turned on the kettle straight away and loaded the toaster with bread and got the honey out of the cupboard.
Jemima appreciated Victoria, she truly did, she was like a big sister but without any of the 'Mama knows best' attitude. When the blonde emerged from the kitchen, two cups of tea in one hand and a plate of copious amounts of honey on toast, Jemima almost cried there and then. Her day had been terrible, she joked as she took a sip of the tea she'd just thanked Victoria for, and God it was good to be home with her sweet room mate. Victoria grabbed her own arm chair and brought it closer to her best friend's and they ate amiably, neither of them mentioning why the dark-haired girl had been hunched in her chair looking so forlorn with Audrey Hepburn crying in the background. That could be addressed later, after they finished their tea and toast with honey.
((A/N: Anyone have any films that cheers them up when they're sad? For some reason I thought of Breakfast at Tiffany's for Jemima, perhaps because its one of my own personal favourites. Again, I appreciate every review and critique is welcomed!))